Resource Management

Why do we "manage" Mother Nature? This is not an easy question to answer, and there is no one golden answer. Suffice it to say that refuge management is complicated, sometimes controversial, but always needed. Most national wildlife refuges were established to protect and enhance wetlands for the conservation of migratory birds, some were established to provide habitat for the Nation's endangered species. All need to be maintained in order to ensure the survival of the wildlife that live within them.

Managing the Resource: A Look at Resource Management Programs

Resource management is the key to ensuring that future generations of Americans will continue to enjoy fish and wildlife and their unique habitats. Resource management activities may include shifting areas of public use on a refuge to protect nesting bald eagles and/or wading birds, setting controlled burns to rejuvenate certain plants for food or cover, manipulating water levels for waterfowl, wading birds or shorebirds, or growing special crops which entice native wildlife back to their traditional habitats.

Resource management programs within the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge include some of the following:

Forest Management Program

Prescribed Fire: Controlled burning of pine forests
Thinning pine forests to maintain healthy undergrowth
Restoration of the native longleaf pine forests

Impoundment Management Program

Manipulate water levels in 1600 acres of managed pools
Annual maintenance & controlled burns of impoundments

Exotic Plant Eradication Program

Cogongrass
Chinese Tallow Tree
Torpedo grass

Endangered Species Program

Bald Eagle protection & monitoring
Red-cockaded Woodpecker management
Flatwoods Salamander management
Least Tern nest site management

Wildlife Population Management

Waterfowl monitoring
Wood Duck nest box maintenance
Breeding Bird monitoring
Wading Bird rookery monitoring
Deer Herd management
Alligator population management

Last Updated: Feb 06, 2014

What We Do

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

The refuge is actively involved in the recovery of the red-cockaded woodpecker. The Service’s current Red-cockaded Woodpecker Recovery Plan (2003) has a panhandle population goal of 1,000 potential breeding groups, with a refuge goal of 71 active clusters. Active refuge management of the red-cockaded woodpecker population and habitat since 1980 has not only prevented extirpation, but also fostered population growth.

St. MarksNational Wildlife Refuge | Florida